The City's Defense

In The City's Defense, Robert Yee examines how the City of London maintained its status as an international financial center. He traces the role of the Bank of England in restructuring the domestic, imperial, European, and international monetary system in the aftermath of the First World War. Responding to mass unemployment and volatile exchange rates, the Bank expanded its reach into areas outside the traditional scope of central banking, including industrial policy and foreign affairs. It designed a system of economic governance that reinforced the preeminence of sterling as a reserve currency. Drawing on a range of archival evidence from national governments, private corporations, and international organizations, Yee reevaluates our understanding of Britain's impact on the global economic order.

• Reveals how the Bank of England reshaped the global economic order
• Examines the political economy of central banking in the era of the two world wars
• Reinterprets a pivotal moment in economic history on the 100th anniversary of Britain's return to the gold standard